The zero tillage revolution in theIndo-Gangetic Plains of South Asia:

How did it happen?

Report on a work in progress . . .

with apologies for mixed metaphors

Larry Harrington, with Peter Hobbs

Rice-wheat systems

About 20m ha in Bangladesh, China, India, Nepal, Pakistan

About 12.5m ha in the Indo-Gangetic Plains

Source of food security for hundreds of millions of poor rural and urban consumers

Threats to the sustained productivity of these systems taken very seriously

Not just rice-wheat: systems also feature pulses, oilseeds, potatoes, berseem clover, many others

Photo: LWH

Variability of rice-wheat systems in different transects of the Indo-Gangetic Plains

Source: Rice-Wheat Consortium

The tillage revolution

From nearly nothing in the late 1990s, zero tillage of wheat after rice now covers nearly 2m ha

Area expected to at least double over the few years

Adoption to date mostly in Haryana, western UP, India Punjab, Pakistan Punjab(transects 1-2)

Areas of new adoption include eastern UP, Bihar, Sindh in Pakistan (transects 3-4)

Photo: LWH

Estimated diffusion of zero/reduced tillage in the Indo-Gangetic Plains (India only)

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Are

a (

'000 h

a,

IGP

)

Source: Laxmi, Erenstein and Gupta, 2005

Number of ZT drills sold per year [columns] and number of ZT manufacturers (▲) in Haryana & Punjab, 1994-2003

Haryana & Punjab, India

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

7000

8000

1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

Year

Num

ber

of n

ew Z

T d

rills

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Tot

al n

umbe

r of

man

ufac

ture

rs

Source: Laxmi, Erenstein and Gupta, 2005

Some impacts to date (2004-05 wheat crop season)

About USD 100m /season

Aggregate cost saving in the Indo-Gangetic Plains attributable to zero and reduced tillage

About 2500 Indian rupees /ha /season

Farm-level cost saving attributable to zero and reduced tillage

Approximately 150m m3

/season

More than 500,000

Nearly 100

About 16,000

About 1.9m ha

Estimate

Aggregate reduction in water used for rice-wheat production (less pumping per irrigation, sometimes fewer irrigations)

Number of farm households adopting

Number of companies manufacturing zero till drills

Cumulative number of zero till drills sold

Area covered by zero and reduced tillage

Item

Sources: RWC (2005); Laxmi, Erenstein and Gupta (2005); Malik et al (2004)

How did this happen? Some keys to success

Emphasis on development and adaptation of suitable implements, based on prototypes from elsewhere.

Participation of the private sector in implement development, adaptation, manufacture and marketing.

Technical mentoring over an extended period of time.

Strong local champions.

A crisis mentality that fostered a willingness to consider radical departures from conventional practices.

The emergence of a dynamic innovations system.

A practice highly profitable at the farm level from the very beginning.

Conventional tillage practices for wheat after puddled rice (except for Nepal terai and Bangladesh)

“Cement-like” soils left after puddled rice

6-10 plowings and plankings to break up the “cement”-like soil and reduce the size of remaining clods

Sowing delayed

Soil moisture lost

Typical source of power a locally-manufactured four-wheel tractor, typically 30-35hp

Main cultivating attachment a 9-11 spring-tine cultivator

Photo: LWH

The 1970s – on-station research in India

Research on wheat zero tillage in India by SS Brar, SS Dhillon and others at Punjab Agricultural University

On-station only

Did not include implement development (experimental work conducted by hand)

Little or no support from University or extension authorities

No participation by farmers

Essentially no adoption

Photo: Peter Hobbs

1982-84 – the Atchison drill in Pakistan: the game begins

CIMMYT office established in Pakistan.

Peter Hobbs imports an Aitchison inverted “T” cross-slot seed drill from New Zealand. Why?

Hobbs needed a drill of some kind to establish wheat experiments after late-harvested basmati rice. He was not thinking in terms of zero tillage

Peter Aitchison happened to visit Pakistan and happened to visit Hobbs and they happened to discuss the drill that Aitchison was marketing in New Zealand

Prototype drill imported using USAID project funds

Photo: Peter Hobbs

1984-85 wheat season in Pakistan: strike one

Hobbs tries Aitchison drill with farmers in collaboration with Pakistani scientists

Conventional practice better than zero tillage. Why? Researchers still learning to calibrate and

operate the Aitchison drill

Conventional tillage and zero tillage wheat sown at the same time

Diagnostic surveys find that extended turnaround time between rice harvest and wheat sowing leads to late planting of wheat and major reductions in wheat yields

Photo: LWH

1985-86 wheat season in Pakistan: strike two

Aitchison zero till drill tried again in farmers’ fields. No difference between zero till and conventional till yields Why? Again, same timing of sowing for zero and

conventional till wheat

New rice variety Basmati 385 released Earlier maturity

Higher yield

Good qualityPhoto: LWH

1986-87 wheat season in Pakistan - importance of timely sowing finally realized: a hit

Further surveys and experiments confirm late-sown wheat yield loss at 1% /ha /day for Pakistan Punjab, lower Sindh, upper Sindh

“The most frequent turnaround time – the elapsed time between the rice harvest and wheat planting – was just over four weeks . . . The shortest turnaround period was three weeks and the longest eight weeks.” (Flinnand Khokhar, 1989)

Aitchison drill tried once more in farmers’ fields. Zero till sown earlier than conventional till – zero till yields 24% higher

Photo: LWH

But what about stemborer – an error (?)

“A potential constraint on adopting zero tillage for is the stemborer (Scirpophaga incertulas), currently an important pest of rice.” (Byerlee et al, 1986)

Build-up of stem borer in rice-wheat systems when zero till used and rice stubble not destroyed?

A rice entomologist assigned to assess the risk

1987-88 wheat season in Pakistan – higher yields and lower costs with zero till: another hit

Zero till yielded much better than conventional till, largely because sowing was on average 24 days before sowing with conventional till

Zero till also led to a major reduction in production costs

Very rapid adoption of early-maturing Basmati 385, also helped deal with problem of long turnaround time between rice harvest and wheat sowing

Photo: Peter Hobbs

1988 – Pakistan strikes out

Research team in Pakistan has Aitchisondesign copied (with permission) by local manufacturer, Descon. Well made, but very costly and too heavy for use with local tractors

On-farm trials continue in Pakistan with Descon drills

Pakistan Punjab extension strongly advises against zero tillage, citing stemborer threat

Activity in Pakistan stalls

CIMMYT office moved to Nepal to work with a more regional focus, including India

Photo: LWH

1989-90 wheat season: out in left field (?)

Research published in Pakistan concludes that stem borer not a problem in zero till rice-wheat systems (Inayatullah et al, 1989)

Pakistan Punjab extension maintains its anti-zero till stance: “The more you till the higher your yield . . .”

Publications by lead Indian scientists show little awareness of zero tillage as a possible technology of interest

Photo: LWH

1989-90 wheat season: the game moves to India

Hobbs imports Aitchison drills to India Punjab – unable to collaborate because of

political violence

Haryana – drill sent to Directorate of Wheat Research, used only on-station

Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh – drill not used

Pantnagar (GB Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Uttar Pradesh) – drill actively tested by scientists

Local initiative at Pantnagar Bachan Singh creates the “Pantnagar drill” –

Atchison-type openers attached to traditional rabi drill

1990-91 wheat season: Pantnagar strikes out

Keen interest in Pantnagar in zero till implements, including the VC and many senior scientists . . . But: No funds to get enough drills for farmer testing

Drill managed by researchers with “friendly farmers”, not left in villages for farmer testing

Not enough exposure of farmers to the implement to create an innovation dynamic

Bachan Singh shares the design of the Pantnagar drill with National Agro-Industries in Ludhiana, private sector implement manufacturer

1991-93 – the private sector quietly steals a base

National Agro-Industries continues making improvements in the Pantnagar drill . . . better built, better components, better openers, seed systems, fertilizer systems, finish etc.

Photos: LWH

1993-96 – a crisis begins: the emergence of herbicide-tolerant Phalaris minor in Haryana

Evolution of isoproturon-resistance inlittleseed canary grass (Phalaris minor Retz.), a serious weed of wheat in the rice-wheat cropping system

Scientists working at Haryana Agricultural University identified and reported this herbicide resistance problem

Problem of resistance soon became so acute that many farmers had to harvest their immature wheat crop as fodder for animals

Photos: LWH (top), Peter Hobbs (bottom)

1994 – RK Malik comes to bat

In 1994, R.K. Malik, weed scientist at Haryana Agricultural University and advisor to the Vice-Chancellor, happens to attend a course in Mexico on zero tillage and conservation agriculture

“Desperate times call for desperate measures” – Malik decides to see if zero tillage can help control herbicide-resistance Phalaris

New (and expensive) herbicides also tried clodinafop (Topik, 15% W.P.), fenoxaprop

(Puma-Super, 10%, E.C.), sulfosulfuron(Leader, 75%, W.P.) and tralkoxydim (Grasp, 10%, E.C.)

Photo: LWH

The strategy

Original idea: use zero-tillage to reduce production costs, enabling farmers to afford new, more expensive herbicides

However, zero-till itself was found to substantially reduce weed germination

Later, found that some farmers were able to stop using herbicides in their wheat fields altogether after 4-5 years of zero-till

Phalaris population over time using NT and new herbicides

0

5 00

10 00

15 00

20 00

25 00

NT C T

T i lla g e s y s t e m

Ph

ala

ris

po

pu

lati

on

96 -9 7

97 -9 8

98 -9 9

a 1

a

b

b

b

a

Photo: LWH. Chart: Peter Hobbs

Getting set-up

Drills obtained from National Agro-Industries

Purchased by CIMMYT and the RWC with DFID funds

Made available for use by Malik

A bizarre twist: If the drills had belonged to the university, they

would have been required to be returned to the campus each evening

As they were not university owned, they had be be left behind in the villages with the farmers

Photo: LWH

1996-97 wheat season in Haryana: Malik swings the bat . . .

Field chosen for first on-farm test of zero till Density of herbicide-resistant Phalaris minor up

to 3000 plants/ m2

Farmer had decided to give up on cool season plantings

Farmer agreed to allow zero tillage – until he saw that it meant sowing without plowing

Farmer pulled out of arrangement

New agreement made with son

“When we started sowing of wheat the old man left the field by saying that I had never seen such type of foolishness of educated people in my life” (Samar Singh, 2004)

Photo: LWH

. . . And gets a hit

Managed to plant 10 acre of no-tillage wheat in fields heavily infested with Phalaris minor

Crop condition at all sites was extremely good

The farmers from different locations in the district were brought to see the crop

Zero till better weed control, lower costs, higher yields

(1996-97 Annual Report of the Directorate of Wheat Research, Karnal: on-station research indicates no-tillage not useful)

Photo: LWH

1997-98 wheat season in Haryana: another hit

More Pantnagar drills purchased for Malik by CIMMYT (DFID funds) and by Australia (ACIAR funds)

90 sites sown with zero tillage

Continued farmer resistance “When he took the zero tillage machine in his

field, his father . . . came and stopped the sowing of wheat with zero tillage. He said,’You can make fool of uneducated farmers like my son because they do not want to work hard in the field’.”

The activity in 1997-98 highly successful -large improvement in wheat yield at all sites, reduced costs, fewer weeds

Photo: LWH

1998-2000: home run

National Agro-Industries further improves drill, based on farmer feedback

150 drills sold for researcher and farmer testing

Scientists from India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh travel through NW India see Phalaris problem, success of zero tillage

Zero tillage gets press and television coverage

Department of Agriculture, Haryana, launches zero till extension activities with own resources

First example of zero till custom service

CIMMYT and ICAR management back zero tillage

Photos: LWH

Why Haryana? How much of this was simply coincidence?

An unfolding crisis: herbicide-resistant Phalaris

A strong, influential, highly-placed local champion, recently trained in zero tillage management: R. K. Malik

A university policy that compelled researchers to leave zero till implements in farmers’ hands

Adapted drills ready for manufacture in volume by the private sector

Absence of obstacles that in other areas have slowed adoption: Basmati rice meant no problem with large volumes of clumped, loose rice straw

A technology highly profitable for farmers in the near term – provided they could get past the “intensive tillage mind-set”

All keys to success were in place

Emphasis on development and adaptation of suitable implements, often using prototypes from elsewhere.

Participation of the private sector in implement development, adaptation, manufacture and marketing.

Technical mentoring over an extended period of time.

Strong local champions.

A crisis mentality that brings with it a willingness to consider radical departures from conventional practices.

The emergence of a dynamic innovations system.

Yes, as exemplified by APPRESID and other groups

Yes, as exemplified by the Rice Wheat Consortium for the Indo-Gangetic Plains

The emergence of a dynamic innovations system.

Soil erosion on hilly lands after conversion from pasture to crops

Herbicide-resistant Phalaris minor

A crisis mentality that brings with it a willingness to consider radical departures from conventional practices

Fatima Ribeiro, others from IPEAME

RK Malik, Mushtaq Gill, Raj Gupta

Strong local champions

Rolf Derpsch, University of Kentucky

Peter HobbsTechnical mentoring over an extended period of time

SemeatoNational Agro-IndustriesParticipation of the private sector

Strong emphasis, prototype from Kentucky

Strong emphasis, prototype from New Zealand

Emphasis on development and adaptation of suitable implements

BrazilIndo-Gangetic Plains Key to success

Related issues: additional innings

Zero till moves to the eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains

Two-wheel tractors, reduced till, strip till, surface seeding, benefits for the very poor

Adoption unfolding in Bihar, eastern UP and, with two wheel tractors for zero/ minimum till, in the Nepal terai Photo: LWH

Related issues: additional innings

Zero till returns to Pakistan with Mushtaq Gill – inspired by work of Malik seen in India during traveling seminar

Now used by over 50,000 farm families

Dealing with large volumes of clumped, loose rice straw – straw choppers, the “Happy Seeder”

Using crop residues for mulch

Laser leveling of fields

Photo: LWH

Related issues: additional innings

Full conservation agriculture

Permanent bed systems and water savings

Zero till rice/ rice on beds

System diversificationPhoto: LWH

What if . . . ?

Aitchison had never come to Pakistan? The factor of timeliness of sowing had not been identified? Stemborer had turned out to be, in fact, a serious problem under zero till? Hobbs had not bothered to import additional drills for use in India? Scientists in Pantnagar had decided to not test the drill (as happened with

the other three recipients of Aitchison drill)? Bachan Singh had not created the “Pantnagar drill”? Bachan Singh had not shared his design with National Agro-Industries? National Agro-Industries had not continued with improvements to the drill? Malik had not gone to Mexico for zero till training? Herbicide-resistant Phalaris had not emerged as a problem? University policies had required that even donated equipment be returned

to the campus each evening?

PS . . .

Definitive study recently published on stemborer in rice-wheat systems, and how stemborer carryover/ build-up may be affected by zero tillage. No major concerns expressed.(Srivastava, 2004)

To this day, extension department in Pakistan Punjab maintains its anti-zero till stance.